Commentary

Censorship and Orwell’s Legacy Interview with Jean Seaton

Author:

Benedetta Brevini

Abstract

Benedetta Brevini (BB): Professor Seaton, no one has discussed and contemplated the notion of veiled censorship better than George Orwell – in Orwell’s own words a type of censorship that is exerted ‘without the need for any official ban’. Can you historically locate Orwell’s critique? Could you also explain to us how ideologically dominant the ‘uncritical admiration of Soviet Russia’ was among British intellectuals of the time?